This was originally supposed to be a one-off show on May 22, 2020 in L.A. with Helmet, Faith No More, Korn and System of a Down all on the bill. Due to popularity another date was added but then the show was postponed multiple times due to COVID so I sold my tickets. Then more cities were added including San Diego so I bought a ticket…then Faith No More dropped off the tour…then Helmet dropped off the tour.
Long story short this show was a long time coming and despite half of the bands I wanted to see no longer being in the lineup I was still excited to see Korn and really excited to see System of a Down, especially since the timing was now perfect to bid farewell to “dry” January and because this was my first actual concert in six months. As such Bob, Kyle, Christi, Larry and I all met at the campus bar/restaurant Eureka to have a few before walking over to the show.
I thought departing at 7:45 would leave enough time to catch some of the opener Russian Circles since the show started at 7:30 but was rudely awoken as we approached the arena and heard the familiar sounds of Korn emanating through the night air. It turns out the show actually started at 7 pm and Korn went on at 7:30 sharp. Now not only was there no Faith No More or Helmet but we had inadvertently missed half of Korn’s set as well because by the time we made our way to the floor they were finishing up “Coming Undone.” I was beside myself but enjoyed what was left of their set, particularly their masterful mashup of multiple songs. Fieldy was absent (Suicidal Tendencies bassist Ra Diaz filled in) but the overall spirit of Korn was not.
Korn SETLIST: Here to Stay, Falling Away From Me, Start the Healing, Got the Life, Rotting in Vain, Shoots and Ladders, Clown, Coming Undone, Y’All Want a Single, Freak On A Leash, It’s On/Trash/Did My Time, Twist, A.D.I.D.A.S., Blind
Everything that happened before System of a Down came on all went away the second they appeared with the energetically perfect opening song of “X.” From then on it was a beautiful blur of spiritual proportions. Rock ‘N’ Roll is my religion and this concert was my much-needed church service.
System of a Down SETLIST: X, Prison Song, Holy Mountains, Mind, Cigaro, Suite-Pee, Needles, Deer Dance, Soldier Side-Intro, Soldier Side, B.Y.O.B., Genocidal Humanoidz, Suggestions, Psycho, Chop Suey!, Lonely Day, Lost In Hollywood, Radio/Video, Dreaming, Hypnotize, ATWA, Bounce, Chic ‘N’ Stu, Protect the Land, Aerials, Toxicity, Sugar
Why yes that is a gentleman in a wheelchair crowdsurfing!
Korn’s livestream was dubbed “Monumental” and was set at the Strangers Things Drive Into Experience in downtown L.A. They were the first band to be allowed to use the location and they took full advantage by utilizing the massive video screen to stunning effect. The production was very well done and captured a faithful rendering of what a live Korn show is like but unfortunately it was not live for those of us tuning in at home. They did a good job of throwing in selections from the newer Korn albums to balance out the older material but for an old head like me the older material is where it’s at. “Thoughtless” was awesome, “Throw Me Away” seemed like a very obscure choice that I loved, “Justin” reminded me how many gems are on the Follow the Leader album, despite “Freak on a Leash” being played to death it flat out rocked, “Dirty” was highly enjoyable and the heavier-than-cement riff of “Here to Stay” was a great way to close the show but “Ball Tongue” was the clincher. I think out of all the times I have seen Korn live they have only played “Ball Tongue” once and that was when they played the entire first album front to back so that was an unexpected highlight for me. Jonathan Davis sounded amazing. He has mastered control of his instrument with subtle nuances in a way that is really spectacular to witness. Speaking of vocals I don’t remember Munky being so involved in backup vocals but he was very involved and did great. Munky and Head are one of the best one two punches in rock but after an hour and fifteen minutes of watching the band do their thing it just made me want to be there in person to feel the wall of sound wash over me.
SETLIST – Victimized, Cold, Insane, Falling Away From Me, You’ll Never Find Me, Thoughtless, Coming Undone, Throw Me Away, Justin, Black is the Soul, Freak On A Leash, Alone I Break, Dirty, Can You Hear Me, Ball Tongue, Narcissistic Cannibal, Here To Stay
This was a star studded free livestream to honor the career of Alice In Chains and raise money for the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, also known locally as EMP or Experience Music Project as it was originally named. After 10 minutes of messing around with trying to get the feed it finally kicked on with Alice In Chains in the middle of performing “Your Decision.” Observations from the two and a half hour event:
Jerry Cantrell reprised his role as Nona from back in the day when they did the Nona Tapes! This was awesome because I had the original home video on VHS back in the day.
Mike McCready made a brief appearance doing the opening riff of “It Ain’t Like That” that made me want to hear the whole song but no dice.
Ann Wilson sang “Rooster” spliced with old Alice In Chains footage with Layne. She has an amazing voice but I just wasn’t feeling her version.
Corey Taylor, Dave Navarro and Taylor Hawkins did a performance of “Man In the Box” with current Jane’s Addiction bass player Chris Chaney. Some might say Corey was making the song his own with the vocals but to me it sounded like he was just struggling to imitate Layne. This is coming from a guy that loves Corey Taylor so no disrespect to him but after hearing two great singers do Alice In Chains songs it just made me appreciate how incredibly unique and talented Layne was even more. At this point I realized I was in for a long night.
Duff McKagan and Shooter Jennings did a pretty rad version of “Down In a Hole” with Duff impressively playing all the instruments except lead guitar. This is such a powerful song and they captured the overall mood perfectly.
Korn did an admirable job covering “Would?” but cover songs are a strange beast to me. I love Korn but feel like you either need to absolutely fucking nail it, make it way different or make it better in some way and this did not do any of those things for me.
Mark Lanegan and his backing band of misfits including Nancy Wilson covered “Brother” and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just got done reading Lanegan’s book and I could tell he was giving an inspired performance for his fallen friend.
Fishbone did a cover of “Them Bones” with horns and all and it was awesome. They definitely made this song their own but kept the bones of the song intact (pun intended).
MoPOP has a contest for local talent called Sound Off and at this point the program featured a handful of gifted artists doing various bits of Alice In Chains songs.
An artist named Liv Warfield did a cover of “Put You Down” that was respectable. It is always nice to hear women in rock.
Mastodon covered “Again” and the music part was on point but again I just was not digging the vocals.
Kim Thayil made an appearance with a group of people I did not recognize doing a full-length version of “It Ain’t Like That,” which finally quieted my brain after the teaser Mike McCready threw out at the top of the program.
Kim Thayil and Krist Novoselic doing “Drone” with two female singers was right up there as the highlight of the whole thing for me. It simply sounded great.
Weirdo extraordinaire Les Claypool made a cameo doing a crazy partial bass solo version of “Man In the Box” that was pretty cool.
Lily Cornell Silver (daughter of Chris Cornell and Susan Silver) made her professional music performance debut playing piano and singing the beautifully haunting “Black Gives Way to Blue” with Queensryche’s Chris DeGarmo accompanying her on acoustic guitar and she killed it. I guess it does not hurt to have great genes.
Mark Lanegan made a second appearance doing “Nutshell,” which I did not enjoy as much as his first act but still liked nonetheless.
Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd did “Angry Chair” with Tad Doyle singing and it stirred the same emotions in me as the Mastodon cover did: musically it was great but Tad’s vocals just were not doing it for me. Mike McCready showed up again during this just long enough to lay down a scorching one-two punch solo with Kim.
Billy Corgan did a stark rendition of “Check My Brain” alone with an acoustic guitar. I love Billy but if you have read this far then you know his voice was definitely out of its element here.
Metallica was one of the most anticipated performances of the night but when they finally appeared doing a partial acoustic version of “Would?” (that had already been done by Korn) it was a little disappointing.
The grand finale was Alice In Chains doing “No Excuses” and it was a nice ending to a really magnificent evening.
It is noteworthy that it was free to watch the event but money was being raised through donations. While this was nice it was also disheartening to see the tally of money raised at a paltry amount even as we neared the end of the broadcast. They could have raised way more money if they had just charged something in the first place. Since most of the other streams I have been watching average $15 for a ticket I made a donation in that amount because music is important and MoPOP is doing good work for the community and the arts in general.
Gatherings of 250 people became officially banned in San Diego as of March 13th, 2020. Nationwide lockdown followed shortly after. The list of concerts below are the ones I intended to attend that have been impacted (so far):
3/13/20 Local H @ Belly Up – RESCHEDULED to 10/10/20 – Local H was set to open for Soul Asylum in support of their album Lifers that was about to drop on 4/10/20
UPDATE 4/24: Local H decided to let fans on their Facebook page vote on an entire album from their catalog for them to play live from their “bunker” in Chicago. The album that received the most votes was Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles? and they livestreamed their performance on both Facebook and YouTube. I would have paid good money to see this live so this was quite a treat as the first livestream concert I ever watched. The picture quality was better on Facebook but the sound was better on YouTube.
3/28/20 Rage Against the Machine @ Pan American Center, Las Cruces, NM – POSTPONED – Before Rage announced a full tour there were originally only five shows scheduled: El Paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM, Phoenix, AZ and as the headliner for both weekends of Coachella. I had no interest in going to Coachella due to the expense and “scene” that I am very much not a part of so Phoenix was the logical choice due knowing people that live there and distance but New Mexico was on a Saturday. That was enough reason for a group of us to decide that a trip was in order.
UPDATE 5/1: The rescheduled tour dates have arrived and it looks like I will not be seeing Rage Against the Machine until May 2021!
4/4/20 Loudermilk @ The Uptown Theatre, Richland, WA – POSTPONED – This was to be the first time I had been “home” in over nine years and with The Ladybird Unition set to open it was going to be like I was 17 years old all over again.
4/13/20 Pearl Jam @ Viejas Arena (SDSU) – POSTPONED – Pearl Jam was one of the first bands that decided to halt their tour. This was to be only my second time seeing Pearl Jam and ironically at the same place that I saw them the first time. This tour was slated in support of the new album Gigaton released on 3/27/20.
4/24/20 The Darkness @ Observatory – POSTPONED – The Darkness was set to tour for their newest effort Easter Is Cancelled, which turned out to be a prophetic title.
UPDATE 5/15: CANCELLED – Well
5/8/20 The Rolling Stones @SDCCU Stadium – POSTPONED – This was to be the second time I had the pleasure of seeing the Stones. As a bonus this was going to be the opening night of the tour within walking distance of my place on a Friday…
5/22/20 System of a Down, Korn, Faith No More and Helmet @ Banc of California Stadium – POSTPONED – This was a one-off concert in L.A. that had such high demand that a second show was added.
UPDATE 5/22: RESCHEDULED – This event will now happen on the same date in 2021 as if this year never happened at all.
6/10 Styx @ San Diego County Fair – CANCELLED – This was set to be my second time seeing Styx but the show and better yet the entire county fair for 2020 was cancelled.
7/12 The Black Keys @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – CANCELLED – This was to be my third time seeing these Ohio natives. Good thing I was able to see the beginning of the “Let’s Rock” tour back in November.
7/19 Incubus and 311 @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – CANCELLED – Two bands that I like on the same bill is always a treat. I guess this would instead fall under the category of trick.
7/23 Motley Crue @ Petco Park – ??? – On May 1st Motley Crue released a statement saying “Our goal is to have an official update to everyone by June 1 outlining exactly how we will proceed.” All signs are pointing towards an inevitable postponement/cancellation.
UPDATE 6/1: POSTPONED – Shocking!
7/24 Weezer/Green Day @ Petco Park – POSTPONED – What was to be a rare concert on a Friday night is no more…until 2021
7/30 Ministry @ House of Blues San Diego – RESCHEDULED – There is a website called bandsintown.com that I am on the email list for and this was how I learned that the Ministry show got rescheduled to April 29, 2021. Hopefully Uncle Al is still around.
8/1 Primus and Wolfmother @ Open Air Theatre – POSTPONED – This was going to be a unique show with Primus undertaking the task of replicating Rush’s 1977 classic album A Farewell To Kings. I was also looking forward to seeing the entire Wolfmother performance after the last one got cut short.
8/8 Guns N’ Roses @ Sofi Stadium – POSTPONED – This was going to be my second time seeing GNR and first time visiting the new gazillion dollar monolith stadium in L.A. where the Rams and Chargers will play.
9/1 Disturbed @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – POSTPONED – This tour was to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the debut album The Sickness, which now seems like an even more apt title.
10/9-10/11 Aftershock Festival @ Discovery Park, Sacramento – CANCELLED – See you in 2021!
11/1 Aaron Lewis and Sully Erna @ Del Mar Fairgrounds – CANCELLED – Just when I thought I was going to get some sort of live music even this got cancelled…
Since Bob and I played Fantasy Football (nerd shit) against each other this week we sat around our hotel room watching football all morning until it was time to go (I ended up winning). Our M.O. for Sundays at Aftershock is usually to find a Buffalo Wild Wings to watch football and get sauced before heading over to the show but B-Dubs was packed. This lead us next door to a restaurant that served up the biggest burrito I have ever seen. I almost took it all down before we headed over to the show to catch Gojira. Joe loves Gojira but I was indifferent about them. Maybe it would have helped if I already knew the songs.
Chevelle was the next band I wanted to see but unfortunately it seemed like they “phoned it in” a little. I cannot explain it exactly but after seeing them as many times as I have it is easy to distinguish a performance that is off. It could have been because they had a shortened set in the daytime while it was still light outside. Then again that exact scenario is how I saw them in the early days when they used to play the second stage or really early on the main stage at Ozzfest.
Young Wicked, The Clincher, Get Some, An Island, Door to Door Cannibals, Face to the Floor, Vitamin R (Leading Us Along), Send the Pain Below, The Red, Still Running, I Get It
Korn have been on a tear the last few times I have seen them and tonight was no different. This time they were touring for their new album The Nothing that was released exactly a month before this. The Aftershock lineup for this year was incredible but Korn was some next level shit compared to most of the other bands that had played up to this point. The first four songs they played set a tone that never wavered from then on out. The set as a whole reminded you why these guys have been able to sustain a career for as long as they have. Still got it.
Blind, Clown, Faget. Here to Stay, Rotting in Vain, You’ll Never Find Me, Shoots and Ladders (with Metallica’s “One” outro), Got the Life, Twist, Freak on a Leash, Coming Undone, Falling Away From Me
It had been over two years since I last saw Tool and the big news since then was that there was finally a new album! Fear Inoculum was released only two weeks before this and was worth the wait. Seeing Tool live never gets old but merely having a chance to see a new song performed live was probably enticing enough by itself to get me to Sacramento. Lucky for me they ended up playing two new songs on the album and equally exciting was when they played “Part of Me” because I am almost certain that in all the times I have seen Tool that I have never seen them play that song. I was also lucky that Ken of all people had procured a doobie from someone since I was out of gummy rings. Musically they were absolutely incredible and somehow their stage show continues to keep evolving to greater heights. The lasers alone were more impressive than the entire stage show of most bands I see.
Fear Inoculum (live debut), AEnema, The Pot, Invincible, Part of Me, Parabola, Jambi, Forty Six & 2, Stinkfist, Pneuma (live debut)
The group as a whole made it through one more day together without separating so we all walked back but on the way realized we were staying right across the street from Old Town Sacramento. After a chiliburger and completely unnecessary beer we wrapped up another Aftershock. Until next year…which we already bought tickets for since it was announced Metallica is going to be headlining on two of the three nights with completely different sets for each night!
Back down to the amphitheater in Chula Vista that I had been to only four days prior. It was a smaller turnout of just Bob and I this time and smaller turnout in general as the whole lawn section had been closed off. This meant a free upgrade for us into the 300 level but probably some bitterness for the people that actually paid a little more for 300 level seats. We promptly found our way down to the front of the section dead center which was essentially the same view as the back of the 200 level. Score!
Stone Sour is one of my favorite bands but I am still sour about the departure of Jim Root. This appearance was for the new album Hydrograd that is set to drop on June 30th and is the first album without Root. Coincidentally or not the three songs from the new album they have already “released” and ended up playing tonight are not my favorite Stone Sour songs. The last time I saw Stone Sour over three years ago was the first time I saw them with Root’s replacement Christian Martucci and the songs just did not quite feel the same. Christian’s virtuosity cannot go unappreciated because he played all the old stuff note for note but again the songs just had a slightly different feel. I think part of it was also Corey Taylor who seemed to be doing the lazy thing of just not singing certain parts and kept doing this weird thing with his voice during screaming parts. To be fair maybe he was just trying to preserve his voice. Overall they still rocked and sounded tighter this time. The highlight for me was “Absolute Zero” which killed. Hopefully the other songs on the new album will make me feel like a big fat fuckface for some of the words I have just written…
SETLIST: Taipei Person/Allah Tea, Made of Scars, Say You’ll Haunt Me, 30/30-150, Tired, Do Me a Favor, Song #3, Through Glass, Absolute Zero, Fabuless
Stone Sour sounded good, Korn sounded GREAT. I am talking strictly on a sound quality level and feel bad for the opening bands because I am convinced this amphitheater dials everything back if you are not the headliner. It was going to be pretty hard for Korn to top the last time I saw them at Epicenter in 2015 when they played the entire first album, but I am not one to miss an opportunity to see my favorite bands when given the chance. Korn was touring for their 12th album The Serenity of Suffering that was released 10/21/16 but I somehow just learned about it. Save for three songs off this album everything they played was from the first six albums. Head and Munky kept doing these badass call and response type things between songs that make them the best guitar duo in the biz. “Here to Stay” was as heavy as ever, “Somebody Someone” sounded thicker than the album version, Jonathan’s scat on “Twist” gave me flashbacks of the first time I had ever heard “Ball Tongue,” and “4U” was beautiful in every way. The visuals being projected onto a couple walls of white amps was a nice touch too.
SETLIST: Rotting in Vain, Falling Away From Me, Here to Stay, Did My Time, Somebody Someone, Clown, Black Is the Soul, Shoots and Ladders, Twist, Got the Life, Coming Undone, Insane, Make Me Bad, Y’All Want a Single, 4U, Blind, It’s On!, Freak on a Leash
Happy early Birthday to me! This year’s Epicenter was moved to the legendary Forum in Inglewood where the Lakers used to play and was to feature Korn playing their eponymous first album in its entirety to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album. This was huge for me since I missed out on seeing Korn back in the day when all they had to play was that album. That in and of itself would have been enough reason to go but on top of that Limp Bizkit was playing along with Everlast, P.O.D. and Suicidal Tendencies AND it was a general admission concert which meant I could go down on the floor without having to sneak down there. The area near the Forum is fairly run down and that is putting it nicely. After Bob, Ken and I drove up from San Diego and checked into our hotel room we walked to a nearby Taco Bell to get some grub. It was the only Taco Bell I have ever been to that had the workers behind glass; bank teller style.
Suicidal Tendencies was up first but at the time that did not seem as important as pouring beer down our gullets so we passed. Once we arrived I realized the Forum architecturally reminded me of a larger version of the Sports Arena in San Diego which made perfect sense because they were both built in the mid-sixties.
I had seen P.O.D. for the first time exactly a year and a half before this at Aftershock and this performance was about the same. Not great but not bad. Their newest offering was SoCal Sessions, which was essentially an album of stripped down versions of their popular tracks and that shit was not about to fly at a show like this.
Next up was Everlast from House of Pain fame that legitimized himself as a solo artist after the release of Whitey Ford Sings the Blues back in 1998 after House of Pain disbanded. I grew up with “Jump Around” and it was pretty cool to see it live with DJ Lethal who just happened to be on hand for the upcoming Limp Bizkit set. He was good but I was very disappointed that he did not give “Shamrocks and Shenanigans” the rock treatment and “Hot To Death” was left out of his set. He had an opportunity to capitalize on the rock crowd at hand and just basically ignored that but good for him playing what he felt like playing.
I had not seen Limp Bizkit since their heyday back in the year 2000 but here they were playing with Korn just like back in the day. I knew what to expect since this was my fourth time seeing them but it had been so long that I really went into it with no expectations so resting on that laurel they fucking blew me away. Say what you will about Fred Durst but the dude has charisma and Wes Borland is not only an amazing guitarist but also a freak that likes to dress up in freaky outfits when the Bizkit plays. Their last album Gold Cobra was released almost a full four years before this but they wisely avoided the album altogether with their limited stage time. The setlist was not exactly what I would have hoped for but they did do a fantastic job of warming us up for the almighty Korn.
SETLIST: Thieves Intro, Hot Dog, My Generation, Livin’ It Up, My Way, Re-Arranged, Killing in the Name, Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle), Take a Look Around, Break Stuff
Korn’s self-titled album will always have a special place in my heart because I randomly discovered it back when the music chain Sam Goody used to have listening towers. Due to this I can claim responsibility for spreading the gospel of Korn throughout my group of friends. At the time and still to this day I have never really heard anything quite like it. It would be an understatement to say I was beside myself that I finally got the opportunity to see the whole thing live in concert, especially after how long I had to wait just to see Korn live at all. This was the sixth time I had seen them and the last time before this was at Aftershock a year and a half before this. The stage setup was a simple backdrop of the creepy album cover and Jonathan Davis was in full regalia with his signature early days Adidas track suit. One by one they played each of the songs on the album in order but my favorite section of the album are tracks eight, nine and ten, better known as “ Predictable,” “ Fake” and “Lies.” I would have paid whatever I paid just to see those three songs live. A-maze-ing.
SETLIST: Blind, Ball Tongue, Need To, Clown, Divine, Faget, Shoots and Ladders, Predictable, Fake, Lies, Helmet in the Bush, Daddy, Falling Away From Me, Freak on a Leash
The Aftershock Festival started in 2012 as a one-day rock festival but now in year two became an annual two-day rock festival held in Sacramento, California. Bob, Ken and I thought this was a good reason to take a road trip and since we decided to make the roughly eight hour drive each way we thought we would get our money’s worth and drive up the day before to stay a night in San Francisco.
As DRIVING from San Diego to San Francisco would imply we were trying to save a little money and thus we booked a hostel beforehand, but when we got there we were turned away. The front desk guy said they were full even though I am fairly sure we were just too old to be staying in a hostel. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we were able to secure a room in a really nice hotel through a last minute booking website. “Room with a view” was an understatement. We could see nearly all of San Francisco and Alcatraz from our window.
After the room fiasco we were all ready for a drink. We walked to the closest bar and the moment we walked in I heard someone yell “Gary!” I looked around and didn’t see anyone so we continued toward the bar when I heard it again. I still didn’t see anyone so I turned to my two compadres to ask if they heard it. About this time a third “Gary” was yelled. I looked upstairs to the source of this yelling and who do I see? Fucking Marvin! He coordinated with Bob’s wife to figure out where we were and drove down from Washington to surprise us. The even more random part of this moment that is worthy of a sidenote is that this happened to be the same exact bar I had taken mushrooms at years earlier. Lots of drinking and laughing later we made it to bed just long enough to get a few hours of shuteye.
After a quick hour and a half drive with a stop at Denny’s thrown in for good measure we made it to the Residence Inn, which borders Discovery Park. We purposely booked this hotel so we could walk back and forth and not have to rely on getting cabs. Discovery Park is a beautiful natural setting and a little more freeing than seeing a concert in a traditional venue or cookie cutter amphitheater. There is also something magical about watching bands outdoors with lots of trees and grass around.
This festival was all about Day One for me. We caught a glimpse of the vixen fronted In This Moment but only because they were on right before the first band that anyone cared about which was Steel Panther. I had seen them a couple times in San Diego when they were still known as Metal Shop and then again as Steel Panther about three and a half years before this. They were still touring the 2011 album Balls Out at this point but for this crew it was all about their older song “Death to All But Metal.” It had become a running favorite among us and was even more of a treat since one of the bands they blasted in the song was Papa Roach, who was playing later that day.
SETLIST: Eyes of a Panther, Tomorrow Night, Asian Hooker, Just Like Tiger Woods, Community Property, Death To All But Metal
Despite P.O.D. being from San Diego and having been around forever I somehow never saw them until now. I cannot claim to be a big fan of theirs but they do have a handful of songs I like. They were touring for the album Murdered Love that was just over a year old at this point. No frills rock representing San Diego.
It was at this point I got very sleepy and decided to take a little nap in the grass. I guess staying up all night drinking and not getting very much sleep will have the effect of making one tired. During this time the terrible Butcher Babies played so I can’t say I “missed” anything.
Buckcherry gained popularity in the 90’s and hit it big again in 2006 with “Crazy Bitch.” It was never my flavor but they were the first band on after I woke up and since I had never seen them I thought why not? They had all the talent one would expect from a one hit wonder (even though they had a few hits).
Papa Roach was next. This is a band I never really liked but also never really disliked. I had seen them at various festivals three times before this and the guitar player blew me away that first time. After being dissed by Steel Panther earlier in the day they proved why the two bands should have been in each other’s time slot. I am pretty sure we as a consensus decided this was a great time to go get beers to prepare for Megadeth.
I had only seen Megadeth one other time about five years before this so I was pretty jazzed to see them again. They were now touring for the album Super Collider, which was only released three months before this gig. Dave and Company tore it up. With the exception of “Kingmaker” from the new album they did not play anything newer than “She-Wolf” from Cryptic Writings (so many better songs they could have chosen from that album). The one/two punch of “Symphony of Destruction” and “Peace Sells” was the stuff that boners are made of.
SETLIST: Hangar 18, Wake Up Dead, In My Darkest Hour, She-Wolf, Sweating Bullets, Kingmaker, Tornado of Souls, Symphony of Destruction, Peace Sells, Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
For the grand finale of the day we got to see Korn, which was the number one reason I actually wanted to make this trip. This was only my fourth time seeing them and I had not seen them since the end of 2002. Much of this was due to the fact that I all but lost interest when Head left the band after Take a Look in the Mirror. Korn has some good material after this but the band was never the same once Head left. Well now Head was back and a new album called The Paradigm Shift was about to be released on 10/8/13. Head and Munky go together like peanut butter and jelly so for me this was pretty much akin to the whole band breaking up in 2003 and finally reuniting. I saw Ray Luzier drum for Army of Anyone but this was my first time seeing him drum for Korn even though he had been Korn’s full time drummer for over four years by this point. One of the first things I noticed when Korn came out was that Jonathan Davis looked healthy and like he was in a good place. This was confirmed by the performance he and the rest of the band put on. They played tight and I think a big part of that was Ray playing the shit out of the drums. Since the new album was still a few weeks away from release we got to witness the first time they ever played “Love & Meth” and “Never Never” in concert. Korn was definitely back.
SETLIST: Blind, Twist, Falling Away From Me, Love & Meth, Narcissistic Cannibal, Coming Undone, Did My Time, Shoots and Ladders, Here to Stay, Never Never, Y’All Want a Single, Get Up!, Got the Life, Freak on a Leash
This was the first time Ozzfest was held at the White River Amphitheatre instead of the Gorge. This venue opened about a month before this show so I think the promoters were trying to drive business to it. The promoters probably figured that a large majority of the people who went to concerts at the Gorge were from Seattle anyway so why not move the concert closer to Seattle. The problem is that there is no comparing to the Gorge, especially with a cookie-cutter amphitheatre such as this. I went with my cousin Earl who at the time lived nearby in Renton.
Before they were on my radar Chevelle played the Ozzfest I attended the previous summer, but because they were not on my radar this was my first time actually seeing them. All it took for me to like this band was to hear “The Red” one time from the Wonder What’s Next album that they were touring behind. I remember being highly impressed that it was just three guys on a stark stage rocking out.
Disturbed was still touring for the album Believe and continued where they left off the last time I had seen them with Korn. I believe it was during Disturbed’s set that people up in the lawn section where I was at began throwing water bottles toward the stage for no apparent reason. The bottles got nowhere near the stage and were hitting people that were closer to the stage downhill. It was fucked up but it was probably more fucked up when I started laughing uncontrollably when the people downhill started throwing the bottles back (uphill). Poor people with better seats…
This was the fourth time I had the pleasure of seeing Marilyn Manson. They were touring for The Golden Age of Grotesque that had been released just a few months prior to this show. Both the album and performance gave a heavy nod to 30’s vaudeville and burlesque mixed in with the usual Manson stage antics. Sadly this would be the last time I would see the band with John 5.
Marilyn Manson is a tough act to follow but Korn held their own. Much better than the last time I had seen them with Disturbed. They were still touring for Untouchables but were much tighter this time. I also remember walking through an exhibit that Jonathan Davis had set up in a trailer earlier in the day. The exhibit was basically a freak show with many serial killer artifacts.
I would tell you I remember Ozzy at this show but I really have zero recollection of seeing him here. I know we stayed for the entire show but my mind is drawing a blank. As previously stated I am not all that into solo Ozzy versus Black Sabbath so this does not entirely surprise me.
David Draiman, the lead singer in the Heavy Metal rock group Disturbed, performs at Ozzfest 2003 in Devore, California, late July 5, 2003. Twenty bands on two stages performed during the all-day outdoor concert 60 miles east of Los Angeles, California. REUTERS/Jim Ruymen JR – RTR73L
Disturbed was opening for Korn on this tour and it is the humble opinion of the author that Disturbed blew Korn off the stage on this night. They had just released the album Believe a few months prior and tore through much of it without stopping to take a breath. Maybe they knew they had to bring it having Korn follow them, maybe they hit a stride around this time, maybe it had something to do with the new album or maybe Korn just had an off night. Whatever it was the band was tight. I do remember at some point David Draiman explaining the artwork on the cover of Believe as a combination of four religious symbols that represent the faiths that span this globe and how every major conflict the world has seen has erupted because of differences in belief.
Korn was touring for the album Untouchables that had come out in June of this year. As stated before they were just out-rocked on this night. I still enjoyed it because Korn is one of my favorites but it was just a little disappointing. This was my third time seeing them. One highlight I do remember is them playing “Here to Stay,” which has one of the heaviest riffs I have ever heard.
